Jacket for phonograph records

ABSTRACT

A jacket for phonograph records consisting of an envelope adapted to contain and protect a record, said envelope having portions detachable therefrom for use as advertising display or cataloging matter. The detachable portions may be separated from the envelope selectively either to leave the envelope completely intact, or so as to form window openings in said envelope. The window openings may serve, for example, to permit viewing and reading of the record label, or to provide a finger notch permitting gripping of the record for removal thereof from the jacket.

United States Patent [1' 1 Woods 51 Nov. 27, 1973 (541 JACKET FOR PHONOGRAPH RECORDS 3,171,540 3/1965 Douglas 206/62 P x [76] Inventor: Warren H. Woods, Rt. 1, Shawnee,

Kans 21 Srimary Egaminer-Villiaqm T}; Dxspjn, Jr. ssistant xaminertep en ar e [22] Flled' 1972 Attorney-John A. Hamilton [21] Appl. No.: 228,609

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. 229/68 R5 40/2 R, 206/DIG. 22, A jacket for p g p records consisting of an em 06/DIG. 29, 206/62 P 1 velope adapted to contain and protect a record, sa1d [51] Int. Cl B65d 27/00, B6501 27/04 envelope havmg portlons detachable therefrom for use [58] Field of Search 229/68 R, 73; as advertising display or cataloging matter The 206N316 62 ,P; 40/2 R tachable portions may be separated from the envelope [561- References Cited selectively elther to leave the envelope completely intact, or so as to form wmdow openings in sa1d enve- UNITED STATES PATENTS lope. The window openings may serve, for example, to 2,986,325 5/1961 Lodcrhose 229/68 R permit viewing and reading of the record label, or to 192,522 1877 provide a finger notch permitting gripping of the re-' 2,871,601 cord for removal thereof from the jacket.

88,722 4/1869 I 3,301,467 1/1967 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 2,931,557 I 4/1960 Loderhose 206/62 P X I 5 (.5a/7y fif/ey 7 1? J0 Li /Z Mrf/ufa Name 1' Z 5 (Jo/7 771/6) 1??) g 9 J2 llocsnuuanaoooenoq 0001 000 oOuOoo o 44m 11F 18 ootnnoo owo o co un-Lo 'aa a :2 rlwefy l I l I Fla/M M/i/J/J Name! K 3,, )5 o 2 2 (Janyfif/e) g I o onooy nonulw'rnwnecuooocnnooo I o 6 /V I j 0 l a l l 1 I 1 i SI I 7 ll (A/f/IS/J P/zw/a) I 8 g 3 g g g dooucnnooeeoooo-oou oorwo ccoooooocw I k A! JACKET FOR PHONOGRAPII RECORDS This invention relates to new and useful improvements in jackets for phonograph records, and has for its 1 principal object the provision of a jacket of greater utility and convenience-of use.

The use of individual jackets or envelopes for phonograph records, to'protect said records during handling, shipping, and storage, is of course common and well known. If the records are sold to a juke box operator, the'records are ordinarily mounted in the juke box and the jackets discarded, but the operator requires a title strip of a given size, on which the artists name and the song titles for each side of the record are imprinted, for mounting in the title strip rack provided therefor in the juke box. Thesetitle strips may be, but often are not, stufied into the jacket with the record but often are lost or mutilated. Blank title strips, which the operator may fill in by hand, are also available, but many operators consider this to be so inconvenient that they refuse to use a record not accompanied by a title strip. Also, a record. may be pluggedT, and its popularity considerably improved, by the use of advertising ordisplay matter which may be placed on view, either on the exterior of the juke box or elsewhere in the establishment in which the juke box is being used. Such matter may consist, for example, of pictures of the performing artist. One feature of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of a record jacket having title strips and/or other display or advertising matter applied securely securely but detachably thereto so that they can be detached and used as desired. Such matter can be applied either directly to detachable portions of the jacket envelope itself, or to oversheets releasably adhered to the jacket envelope. v

If the record is sold to a private individual and is hence mounted in a phonograph only periodically, the purchaser usually retains the jacket for storing and protecting the record when not in use, but may still desire the detachable elements, using the title strips for example to maintain a catalog of his records, and the artists picture or other display material in a photograph album of performers. Also, while it is generally desirable during commercial handling, shipping and storage, before sale to the eventual user, to use a jacket which completely encloses the record, with no parts of the record exposed, the eventual user usuallydesires a jacket having certain openings. For example, he usually wants an opening permitting him to grasp an edge of the record to withdraw it from the jacket and a central opening permitting him to read the label of the record itself. At the same time, he of course desires that the jacket'providev adequate protection for the record during the'limited handling to which it is subjected in private use. According to the present invention, therefore, the detachable elements of the jacket are so arranged that when removed, they leave the desired jacket openings. Nevertheless, by imprinting the title strip and display indicia on oversheets releasably adhered to the jacket, said oversheets may be removed and used without forming openings in the jacket and hence without impairing its protective function in any way.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, and efficiency, dependability, and convenience of operation.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a face view of a phonograph record jacket embodying the present invention, indicating a phonograph record carried therein,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line IIII of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but with the detachable elements of the jacket removed, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line lVlV of FIG. 1.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numeral 2 indicates generally the record jacket forming the subject matter of the present invention. It comprises a flat envelope, formed of paper or light-weight cardboard, having a front wall 4 and rear wall 6. it is generally squareor slightly rectangular, and is closed along three of its edges 8, l0, and 12, while being open at its fourth edge 14 to receive therein a phonograph record 16 in the usual manner. Said record is flat and circular, having a central spindle hole 18 and a circular label patch 20 surrounding said spindle hole. FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, for clarity, show the envelope walls separated slightly from the record. Actually, they normally fit snugly against the record.

Either front wall 4 or back wall 6 of the jacket, or both, have a pair of areas or sections 22 and 24 thereof which are detachable from the remainder of the jacket. Said areas are defined and rendered detachable by lines of perforations 26 punched through the jacket walls,

' whereby to weaken said wall for easy tearing along said lines. Alternatively, the sections couldbe simply indicated by cut lines printed on the jacket, along which the walls may be cut by scissors. Section 22 is rectangular,being of a size and shape corresponding to the stan-- dard size of juke box title strips, and is disposed midway between the ends of the open edge 14 of the jacket, as shown. The standard title strip indicia 28, inthe usual form, may be printed directly on jacket section 22, or as shown, on an oversheet 30 adhered releasably to said jacket section 22 by means of a pressure-sensitive, nondrying adhesive'32. Section 25 is also rectangular, but is disposed centrally of the area of the jacket, so as to directly overlie the central label patch 20 of the record. Any desired indicia may be printed directly on section 24, or as shown, on an oversheet 34 releasably adhered to the jacket by pressure-sensitive, non-drying adhesive 32. As shown, section 24 is divided by a perforation line 36 into two sections 24A and 24B, section 24A du plicating section 22 in size and carrying duplicate title strip indicia 28, and section 24B carrying the performing artists picture '38 or other display'matter.

Thus it will be apparent that a record jacket having several advantages has-been produced. If purchased by a juke box operator, it includes within itself, and forming a part thereof, both title strips and advertising or display material which may be used as desired. Title strip sections 22 may be torn free of the jacket and placed directly in the title strip rack of the juke box. For this purpose, no adhesive backing for the title strip is usually necessary or even desirable, and the card-like stiffness imparted by the combined thickness of oversheet 30 and jacket section make the title strip easier to handle and insert in the rack without bending or other mutilation. If, on the other hand, it may be desired to adhere the title strip to some surface, rather than placing it in the slots of a rack, oversheet 30 may simply be peeled away from jacket section 22, as permitted by the non-drying character of adhesive 32, so as to be ready for adherence to any surface. This peeling may be done without tearing jacket section 22 free, in order to leave the jacket itself intact, if desired. In like manner, either or both of jacket sections 24 may be torn free of the jacket, or their oversheets 34 peeled therefrom, to provide advertising and display matter. Here again, the oversheets, when peeled from the jacket, may be adhered to any surface, while if left adhered to jacket sections 24 to form a stiffer, card-like combination, they are more suitable for insertion in frames, if these are available. It is generally desirable that the display matter carried by sections 24 include a duplicate of the title strip information carried by sections 22 as shown, since in displaying the artists picture, it is also generally desirable to advertise the specific records by that artist which may be available on the juke box. The title strip sections include spaces in which the letters or numbers indicating the position of the record in the juke box may be written. Sections 24A and 24B may, however, be separated by tearing along perforations 36' if desired.

If, on the other hand, the jacket and record are purchased by a private individual for his own use, rather than by a juke box operator, he may still use the title strips and display matter in generally the same manner. That is, while he will not place the title strips in a juke box, he may use them in cataloging his collection of records, and he may use the display material, for example, in maintaining a photograph album of performing artists. He may also either tear sections 22 and 24 from the jacket, or peel oversheets 30 and 34 from said sections, as before. However, even if he should elect to peel the oversheets away from the jacket for use, it is likely also that he will tear out and discard sections 22 and 24 of the jacket, since he has a continuing use for the jacket in the protective storage of the record when not in use, which a juke box operator generally does not. The removal of sections 22 forms windows 40 (see FIG. 3) which comprises matching notches in the front and rear walls of the jacket at its open edge. This exposes an edge of the record so that it may conveniently be grapsed for removal from the jacket. The removal of sections 24 forms windows 42 (see FIG. 3) which expose the central portion of the record for reading of the label patches thereof. Sections 22 and 24 are spaced apart, as shown, so that even when they are detached,

there remains a bar 44 of each original jacket wall connecting the lateral side portions of the jacket, so that said jacket retains its general form and can still perform the general functions of a jacket. it no longer completely encloses the record, but still protects it adequately against the handling to which it normally would be subjected in private ownership. If the owner should still demand the greater protection of a completely enveloping jacket, he may simply peel off theoverhseets 30 and 34 without tearing out jacket sections 22 and 24. As previously mentioned, separable jacket sections 22 and 24 may be formed in either or both of jacket walls 4 and 6.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A phonograph record jacket comprising a flat, generally square envelope open along one edge for the insertion of a phonograph record therein, said envelope having front and rear walls, both of said walls having corresponding pairs of detachable portions each carrying indicia suitable for use separate from said jacket, corresponding detachable portions of the two envelope walls being disposed in registering relation, one of said detachable portions of each wall being disposed substantially midway of the open edge of said envelope whereby to leave a notch in said open edge when detached, and the other of said detachable portions of each wall being disposed generally centrally of its associated wall, in spaced apart relation from said one detachable portion, whereby when detached to leave a window in said wall through which the central label patch of a record disposed in said jacket may be read.-

2. A phonograph record jacket as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the detachable portions of said envelope walls are divided from the remainder of the wall of which it forms a part by lines of perforations formed in said wall, whereby it may be torn free from said wall.

3. A phonograph record jacket as recited in claim 2 with the addition of an oversheet overlying the exterior surface of each of the detachable portions of said envelope walls, and releasably attached thereto by a nondrying adhesive, said indicia being imprinted on said oversheets. 

1. A phonograph record jacket comprising a flat, generally square envelope open along one edge for the insertion of a phOnograph record therein, said envelope having front and rear walls, both of said walls having corresponding pairs of detachable portions each carrying indicia suitable for use separate from said jacket, corresponding detachable portions of the two envelope walls being disposed in registering relation, one of said detachable portions of each wall being disposed substantially midway of the open edge of said envelope whereby to leave a notch in said open edge when detached, and the other of said detachable portions of each wall being disposed generally centrally of its associated wall, in spaced apart relation from said one detachable portion, whereby when detached to leave a window in said wall through which the central label patch of a record disposed in said jacket may be read.
 2. A phonograph record jacket as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the detachable portions of said envelope walls are divided from the remainder of the wall of which it forms a part by lines of perforations formed in said wall, whereby it may be torn free from said wall.
 3. A phonograph record jacket as recited in claim 2 with the addition of an oversheet overlying the exterior surface of each of the detachable portions of said envelope walls, and releasably attached thereto by a non-drying adhesive, said indicia being imprinted on said oversheets. 